The Nigeria FMCG Games 2018 entered its penultimate round last Saturday at the Yaba College of Technology. All the sporting events were in full swing as the Spectators were treated with a variety of sporting activities for their viewing pleasure. The indoor games (Chess, Scrabble & Table Tennis) continued alongside Football, while the athletics event commenced.
Dignitaries from participating companies who were in attendance includes:
- Dayanand T.S. – General Manager West Africa; Reckitt Benckiser
- Odoemene Okezie – Human Resource Business Partner; Unilever
- Torinmo Fabamuro – Human Resource Manager; Reckitt Benckiser
- Ayodele Alabi – Corporate Communications Manager; Guinness
- Kenneth Omeni – Head, Internal Audit & Control; FrieslandCampina WAMCO.
MATCH ONE
FrieslandCampina took on Unilever in the early kick-off. Defending Champions FrieslandCampina were in search of their first win of the campaign while Unilever were looking for a victory to get them within touching distance of table topping Nestle. The game was a close call as both teams created lots of chances early on but were unable to convert them to goals. In the dying minutes of the game after some sustained pressure at the defence of Unilever, Femi Ezekiel scored what proved to be the game decider as FrieslandCampina claimed the 3 points.
MATCH TWO
Reckitt Benckiser faced Guinness in the second game of the day. The match proved to be a tight affair as both teams battled for their first wins of the tournament. Reckitt Benckiser took the lead in the first half through Olisa Elvis and were able hold on to the lead till the break. Guinness came out blazing in the second half and got an equalizer through Valentine Omoigberale. Both teams battled to claim maximum points and in the final minute of the game Man of the Match, Olisa Elvis scored the winning goal and gave Reckitt Benckiser their first win of the season.
The FMCG Football Table as it stands:
| Position | Team Name | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | NESTLE | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 7 |
| 2 | FRIESLANDCAMPINA | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 5 |
| 3 | RECKITT BENCKISER | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | UNILEVER | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | GUINNESS | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 2 |
INDOOR GAMES
In the indoor games, the Chess event concluded over the weekend and FrieslandCampina claimed all medalling positions in the female category while in the male category FrieslandCampina claimed the gold medal while Nestle and Guinness claimed the silver and bronze respectively.
In the Table Tennis event, FrieslandCampina claimed gold and bronze in both female singles and doubles categories. Nestle also claimed silver in both female categories while Reckitt Benckiser claimed bronze in the single category and Guinness claimed bronze in the female doubles.
In the male category of Table Tennis Singles, Nestle claimed both gold and bronze while Reckitt Benckiser took the silver medal. The doubles category saw Nestle taking both the gold and silver leaving Guinness and FrieslandCampina with the bronze medals.
The Scrabble and Athletics events have both begun and are both in the final rounds. They will be concluded on the final day of the 2018 FMCG Games.
The FMCG Medals Table as it stands:
| Position | COMPANY | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | TOTAL |
| 1. | FrieslandCampina | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| 2. | Nestle | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| 3. | Reckitt Benckiser | – | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4. | Guinness | – | – | 3 | 3 |
| 5. | Unilever | – | – | – | – |
Spectator Engagement
The spectators weren’t left out of the fun as they also participated in activities like fastest finger and a raffle draw where lucky winners won prizes.
As we come to the end of the 2018 FMCG Games we look forward to an action packed Sunday with the finals of the athletics and scrabble. Two highly anticipated football games beckons with Unilever taking on Reckitt Benckiser and Nestle going up against FrieslandCampina in what would be the title deciding match.
Fela is the Co-founder of MediaVision Limited .
